Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a press conference in Washington, DC, on September 17. Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters Washington —

America’s central bankers continue to deal with the double whammy of potentially higher inflation and a slowing labor market, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, calling it a “challenging situation” for Fed policymakers.

But, for now, interest rates are in a good place to deal with either threat, Powell said, suggesting he sees no urgency to lower rates aggressively.

“The increased downside risks to employment have shifted the balance of risks to achieving our goals,” Powell said in prepared remarks for an economics event in Warwick, Rhode Island. “This policy stance, which I see as still modestly restrictive, leaves us well positioned

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